Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Brownsville mural, like a big wallpapering project

Artist Jim Winegar of Graysville, Greene County, Pa., works on an informational sign for a new Brownsville mural with Juliana Gernot, 15, of Monessen, who is attending his summer art class at Douglas Education Center in Monessen. (Scott Beveridge/Observer-Reporter)

The convicts where he worked at State Correctional Institution-Fayette, were some of the best-behaved students the Graysville potter has ever worked with, "even though they were men who did some terrible things," Winegar, 63, said.

"They monitor their conduct. They have to earn the right to qualify for the art program," he said. "They conduct themselves better than probably most students I've had."

He oversaw their work on a large mural on cloth of Brownsville's historic cast iron bridge in a scrapbook design now adhered to a brick wall beside the borough's downtown Market Street parking lot. His job later was eliminated by state budget cuts.

That mural caught the eye of Brownsville resident Patricia DeConcilis, vice president of academic affairs at Douglas Education Center in Monessen. She decided to get Winegar involved in creating a second mural for her hometown this summer at the school in a program for teens ages 14 to 17.

"I just love that mural down there," DeConcilis said. "I feel we have a real pro here," she said, while Winegar and his new students worked on a mural depicting the steamboat Enterprise.

The side-wheeler launched at Brownsville in 1814 became the first to navigate the Monongahela and Ohio rivers to Louisville, Ky., and back. It also made the first round trip between Louisville and New Orleans, revolutionizing transportation in the nation.

"I think it's really good for the kids because they have something to show, take a friend, parent and say, 'Look what I did,'" said Bobbi Fine, a Washington tattoo artist who also teaches at Douglas.

Winegar said he chose to do the murals in panels in a process developed at the State Correctional Institution-Graterford.

"This is the best practice," he said. "It's perfect for inmates who can't leave a prison."

The designs are enlarged onto a wall covered with the fabric, using an opaque projector, and then sketched onto the material. The thin material is the same used to stiffen shirt collars.Ultraviolet light-resistant paints made in Culver City, Calif., are then used to create the art, which has a durability of at least 25 years after being glued outdoors and covered with sealant.

"It's almost like a big wallpapering project. It shrinks after it dries and looks as if it's painted right onto the brick," Winegar said.

The second mural now adorns a wall of a building at the entrance to Brownsville Riverside Wharf Park.

After receiving approval from the state Department of Corrections, the other one contains the names of eight prison artists, some of whom are serving sentences for drug or sexual assault convictions. Three of them, Tito McGill, Terry Kightlinger and Charles "Duffy" Linton, are serving life sentences for murder.

Eventually the town will contain a string of such murals, using the scrapbook theme of looking back on its history, said Norma Ryan, a member of the Brownsville Area Revitalization Corp.

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About Scott Beveridge

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Welcome to Travel with a Beveridge. Most of the stories, photographs and videos on these pages are the work of Scott Beveridge, an award-winning writer and photographer at the Observer-Reporter newspaper in Washington, Pa. He takes his morning coffee strong, preferably brewed with fresh-ground Sumatra beans, drives a Ford and looks for weird things.

This blog also is a place to promote the work of aspiring young writers and showcase occasional stories written by established scribes. Thank you for pulling up: Grab a stool and make yourself comfortable.

More information about this blogger can be found at his Linkedin and Facebook accounts

"The Gamble on Donora Steel" is an occasional series by Scott Beveridge about the history of steel manufacturing in Donora, Pa.

Industrialists had taken a chance by investing in sprawling steel, wire and zinc mills on the western banks of the Monongahela River in what would become known as Donora, Pa., in 1901. Little did they know that an environmental disaster combined with difficult labor relations would cause this complex to become the first of its kind to permanently shut down decades later in the fall of America's Industrial Revolution. The short stories about the rise and decline of this borough, mostly drawn from headlines in the local newspaper, appear under the following links:

WELCOME TO NOWHERE

Scott Beveridge grew up in Webster, Pa., a village along the Monongahela River that experienced one of worst environmental nightmares in the United States. His family moved there in 1960 about the same time the nearby zinc and steel mills ceased production. Those mill furnaces were to blame for the damages that awoke America to the dangers of air pollution. After their demise, the grass and trees began to return to the barren landscape that appeared as if it belonged on the moon. His short stories about that adventure appear under these links:
Introduction: The warning signs were there

The artichoke dream

Scott sends dirty clothes home when on the road

If you are like him when you travel, your clothes seem to take up more space in your suitcase after you have worn them. Take a tip from Scotty and mail yourself a package home filled with those dirty socks, underwear and T-shirts after you have been on the road for five or six days. You can buy a box and enough postage at the post office for less than $15. Postal workers seem to get a kick out of the idea, and they will even help you fold your box and tape it closed, too. Seek out a post office in a small town, where the workers have more time to gossip, while driving to a tourist destination. Now, you have room in your carryon to cart home your souvenirs, without having to worry about them getting broken or flown to St. Louis when your switchover is aiming for Pittsburgh.

He also hates road warriors; prefers to chill on down time

The successful traveler packs a personality blessed with patience and some understanding of the road.

Scott says do everyone a favor and STAY HOME if you are an anal retentive, control freak who spends far too much time complaining about life. When traveling, folks always take the risk of flight delays and cultural misunderstandings, or having companions who don’t wear watches or luggage and could land in Macon, Ga., when they are flying to Istanbul.

So keep a book or two in your carryon in case you are stuck in the airport in Haiti while rebels are burning tires in the streets and preventing the pilot from reaching the cockpit of your plane. That bag should also carry any prescription drugs you need, deodorant and toothpaste, along with a toothbrush, clean pair of underwear and T-shirt.

When you arrive, please don't linger in your hotel room. Go outside to meet interesting people. You can sleep when you get home.

Always take a moment to sit down and remove your shoes, like the old man in Hanoi, who is shown in the above photograph at the Temple of Literature in Hanoi.

And before you fly overseas, please check with the U.S. Department of State to find out which countries hate Americans the most.